perspective from the neck

Tag Archives: Jesus

On this, the ten year anniversary of 9/11, we remember those who have gone before us. God, have mercy on us!

As part of our blogging schedule, we have agreed as a group that we will not be doing individual blog posts on Sundays. However, we do want to keep discussion going, so we will be posting about Mass and our obligations on Sundays. Don’t worry, we’re set to auto-post so we can enjoy family time, too. 🙂

Sunday readings hold different meaning for different people. Inevitably some part of Scripture or a certain place during Mass jumps out at someone, giving them something they needed at that precise time.

What was memorable for you today? Did the kids behave? Did you find forgiveness in something you had been holding onto for a while? Did you marvel at the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Anything of particular importance you want to share with us? We’d love to hear how Mass impacts your life.

We’d also like to take the opportunity to share a wonderful poem written by Mattie Stepanek, in honor of those whose lives were lost ten years ago today.

FOR OUR WORLD

We need to stop.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment…
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment…
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment…
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice…
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment…
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.

Did you know every three years we read nearly the entire Bible through Mass?

As part of our blogging schedule, we have agreed as a group that we will not be doing individual blog posts on Sundays. However, we do want to keep discussion going, so we will be posting about Mass and our obligations on Sundays. Don’t worry, we’re set to auto-post so we can enjoy family time, too. 🙂

Sunday readings hold different meaning for different people. Inevitably, some part of Scripture or a certain place during Mass jumps out at someone, giving them something they needed at that precise time.

What was memorable for you today? Did you marvel at the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Did the kids behave? Did you find forgiveness in something you had been holding onto for a while? Anything of particular importance you want to share with us? We’d love to hear how Mass impacts your life.

Did you know every three years we read nearly the entire Bible through Mass?

As part of our blogging schedule, we have agreed as a group that we will not be doing individual blog posts on Sundays. However, we do want to keep discussion going, so we will be posting about Mass and our obligations on Sundays. Don’t worry, we’re set to auto-post so we can enjoy family time, too. 🙂

Sunday readings hold different meaning for different people. Inevitably some part of Scripture or a certain place during Mass jumps out at someone, giving them something they needed at that precise time.

What was memorable for you today? Did the kids behave? Did you find forgiveness in something you had been holding onto for a while? Did you marvel at the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Anything of particular importance you want to share with us? We’d love to hear how Mass impacts your life.

As Catholics, we wholly love our triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every day we attend mass we literally sit at the feet of our Lord Jesus, mystically united in time to the moment He gave His life for us on the cross. Before the altar of the most Blessed Sacrament we are privileged to worship Him, thank Him, love Him, and depend on Him. We are beside everyone that has ever attended the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, beside all of the angels, beside all of the saints, and beside everyone who was at the foot of His cross at Golgotha… we are beside His Mother, Mary.

Jesus’s life was bookended with Mother Mary, she was present at His birth, and at His death. Before God sent us our Savior, He first created the vessel by which that Savior would come. Instead of celebrating Christmas each year, we could be celebrating the Descension of Jesus, or some other event by which God sent our Savior. God’s plans are always perfect and always have more meaning than we can ever humanly fathom. In all of His infinite wisdom and in His love for us, God included a mere human in His plan for our salvation. Our Father gave Himself a human mother.

In the book of John it is recorded that during the Last Supper Jesus reminded his disciples, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” In fact, He mentioned keeping the commandments many times. The first three commandments all deal with how we are to have a relationship with our Lord. Then, surprisingly, the fourth commandment, listed before don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness… is to honor your father and mother. This particular commandment is oddly out of place between the first three dictating proper worship of our Lord God and the latter six thou shall nots. It must be important.

Jesus entrusts his mother to his disciple John.

We are commanded to honor our father and mother. We are also called to follow Jesus as our example of Christian living. Jesus lived a life perfectly without sin, He upheld every one of the ten commandments, daily. He perfectly honored both His Father, our Lord God, and His Mother, Mary. Isn’t it interesting that God created a commandment to honor our father and mother, then when He came down to Earth He provided Himself a mother which allowed Him to perfectly fulfill the fourth commandment? In His plan for our salvation, God submitted Himself to honoring a human. Jesus showed us how to perfectly follow the first commandment and all the while have the most perfect honor for His mother with the fourth commandment. At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus performed His first miracle at the behest of Mother Mary (John 2), and while hanging on the cross He made sure not to expire before arranging proper care for her (John 19). He did not shy away from loving His mother out of fear of offending His Father. He did not ignore His mother or feel indifferent toward her. Jesus was still submitting Himself to honoring His mother while dying to provide us eternal life, that is how important she is to Him. He wholly and perfectly loves His mother out of His love for His Father.

So, how is your relationship with Mary? Do you forget she’s even there? Imagine a family in which, day after day, the children lovingly flock to the father while it is as if their adoring mother is not even in the room. Imagine the pain God must feel when day after day we ignore or even actively reject the Mother He gave Himself, the Mother that He loves with a child-like love, the Mother that He commands us to love. Your relationship with Mother Mary should be a proportionate indicator of your love for Our Father.

Don’t know how to begin a relationship with Our Lady? Pray for God to assist you in beginning a relationship with His Mother. Remember to talk with Mary at mass, as she is there beside you, at the foot of Her Son’s holy cross. Ask for her prayers. Ask her to pray for you to have a devotion to the Father like the devotion she is privileged to have. Ask both Our Lady and Our Father for forgiveness for not including her in your life the way we are commanded to.

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

I’m Catholic and have been since birth. My faith has always been part of the definition of me. That being said, in May 2010 my world fell apart and the foundations of my faith cracked.

At 8:50 pm on May 26th 2010 my beautiful daughter Rita Marie was born. She weighed 8lbs even and was 21 inches long. She had a head of gorgeous black hair. She was all me but for her nose and her hands – those were her daddy’s.

She was perfect.

But she wasn’t breathing.

A special ambulance came and rushed her to the local Children’s hospital. There she stayed for two days. She died in my arms when she was but 48 1/2 hours old. I sang to her as she left us for Heaven and Life Everlasting. Her daddy made sure of of her destination when, good Catholic man that he is, he baptised her as soon as it was evident she wasn’t breathing.

I’m so blessed to have a Saint in Heaven who is especially concerned for me and my family. But I am also broken. I have struggled greatly since Rita came and left us. On the Feast of the Assumption I went to Confession for the first time in 10 months. 10 months is a long time for sin to build. I didn’t even know where to start and I let Father know. I was expecting to come out with a penance that would take me hours to complete but God surprised me with His Justice and Mercy. He had just the right Priest waiting for me and cleared the line so that I could quickly duck into the confessional without having to wait for ages.

Without going into intimate detail of my fallen nature, Father said two things that stuck with me. The first was that there are two parts to faith: the intellectual knowledge or understanding that God is Real and the trust that He wants good for us. The second thing that stuck with me was my penance and the spiritual guidance received. Respectively, to pray simply the prayer of St. Faustina “Jesus, I Trust in You.” a certain number of times and to say every day, as many times as needed, “Lord give me the light and grace to get through this day.”

I truly feel God’s love and mercy from that penance. He knows I am already hurting and broken and chose to remind that I am His and that He loves me even when I am expecting Him to give me the spiritual equivalent of a good spanking.

I went into the confessional feeling like God had it in for me – like I was His new Job – and came out feeling like Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet.

Our God is both Merciful and Just. He is perfectly both and measures each to us as we need.

This past Saturday, my husband & I were sitting on the couch just having a general day. I can’t remember what started the conversation, except that I KNOW it was him (fist pump & bump from me to the Holy Spirit). He asked about when the Church started. Since I tend to blather on & on (& on & on & on…), I concentrated on brevity. I said, “Oh, somewhere in the New Testament before Easter, Jesus told Simon Peter that ‘… on this rock I shall build my Church…'” I further added that He (Jesus) also told Simon Peter that He (Jesus) would give Simon Peter the keys to Heaven and the Church. My husband’s reply was a simple “Oh” or grunt of acknowledgement. Regardless of his response, I was tremendously pleased that he broached the subject.

Imagine my absolute SHOCK when, at Mass Sunday, the Gospel was that *very* reading. Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?” followed by “Who do *you* say that I am?” Simon Peter was the only one brave enough (or lacking the edit function of his brain like me) to say, “You’re the Christ”. Then followed my above mentioned quote from that same chapter. As the reading began I looked over and was dismayed to see that our children looked to be thoroughly distracting my baptized (but not confirmed) husband. I said a silent prayer to the Holy Spirit to allow him (my husband) to hear the words of the reading AND the homily. Then I tried to divide my attention between the children, Mass, & my husband’s demeanor; therefore I completely forgot about the revelation during Mass. Later at home, amid the chaos that is life with a 3 year old & 21 month old, my husband said something about it being funny that the reading at Mass was exactly what we’d talked about. Again, I internally fist pumped & bumped the Holy Spirit, but kept my answer non-chalant & brief.

That got me to thinking. Who am I that God should listen to my all-too brief prayers? Who am I that others should look at me & find encouragement, inspiration, and happiness? Who am I that God has blessed me with the family (and friends) I have? Who am I that God has given the struggles to overcome and therefore become an inspiration to others around me. The answer is, basically, I am who God made me.

It is often bandied about that God works in mysterious ways and that if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. Well, I am the personification of the latter of these as well as the former (but mostly the latter). Too often I get caught up in the little things and forget or dismiss my prayer-life, the sacraments, or the blessings that I have been given. To be honest, sometimes the struggles God has given me are actually the biggest blessings I have. Obviously, I don’t see that at the time, but upon reflection later (sometimes MUCH MUCH MUCH later) my struggles have been times when I have developed certain traits that make me a better person. This better person God is molding is who He wants me to be. The comfortable, vague-minded, obsessive, defiant, anxious person is the anthema of God’s plan for me. It is up to me, and EVERYONE, to become the person God means us to be through His means, not our own.

Did you know every three years we read nearly the entire Bible through Mass?

As part of our blogging schedule, we have agreed as a group that we will not be doing individual blog posts on Sundays. However, we do want to keep discussion going, so we will be posting about Mass and our obligations on Sundays. Don’t worry, we’re set to auto-post so we can enjoy family time, too. 🙂

Sunday readings hold different meaning for different people. Inevitably some part of Scripture or a certain place during Mass jumps out at someone, giving them something they needed at that precise time.

What was memorable for you today? Did the kids behave? Did you find forgiveness in something you had been holding onto for a while? Did you marvel at the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ? Anything of particular importance you want to share with us? We’d love to hear how Mass impacts your life.

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You've stopped at the online journal of the Catholic Sistas. We are a group of women dedicated to sharing the Faith in an uplifting, inspiring and infectious manner. We love to create disciples. And, we love to share our passion for the Faith with other people, Catholic or not. We hope you'll stay for a visit. And, feel free to chime in on the conversation. You know, so we don't think we're talking to ourselves. Thanks for stopping by!

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